EMPEROR
Directed by: Mark Amin
Starring: Dayo Okeniyi, Harry Lennix, James Cromwell, Kat Graham, Bruce Dern, Kevin Wayne
Shields Green a slave working on a plantation in Charleston. Acting as overseer, life is tolerable until the plantation changes owners, and the new foreman proves to be a spiteful and incompetent man, taking out his own failings on the slaves. When Shields' son is whipped for no reason, it pushes Green over the edge. Now a fugitive with a bounty on his head, Shields heads North, seeking sanctuary…
Emperor is a fictional retelling of Shields Green's time as a fugitive and rebel, leading up to the real attack on an arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. For the most part it's fictional out of necessity, as there is little known about Green's past but his fate post-Harpers Ferry is given an action movie make-over.
As the film opens, we find Green and his wife and son living in relative comfort - Green is in charge of ordering supplies, rather than having to work out in the fields. However the plantation owner is not only addicted to gambling but isn't very good at it either, and one evening he manages to lose the whole estate in a game of cards. This brings in a new owner and a foreman who is illiterate and meanspirited. When the foreman fails to order the correct amount of seed to be planted, Shields is blamed and punished. However its not until his son is whipped (for the crime of being able to read) that Shields breaks.
The film then follows Green as he is both helped and hindered in his escape North, and chased by a professional bounty hunter called Luke McCabe - who gets a great introduction scene showing off his certain set of skills. Green eventually meeting up with John Brown, a white man who dedicated his later years to the cause of freeing slaves and who leads the fateful charge on the arsenal.
I admit to feeling a certain amount of trepidation when setting out to watch this film. There have been a lot of poor quality "westerns" lately, shot cheaply and looking like an amateur dramatics re-enactment society rather than an actual film. As the first scene starts I could feel myself relax, as this has superb cinematography and a decent widescreen aspect ratio to give an appropriate epic feel. I will even forgive the fact that the opening scene was in-media-res, a device which is unfortunately over-used.
Emperor boasts a number of well put together action set pieces, starting with the confrontation with the foreman and subsequent flight for his life. There's a chance encounter with a bank robber which leads to a chase sequence and shoot-out, and carries a surprising amount of pathos. Then there is the thrilling conclusion, hinted at the start of the film. Whilst in no way historically accurate, it does provide some decent action both in the arsenal and the showdown at the church immediately afterwards.
There are some familiar names in the cast, notably James Cromwell as John Brown and Bruce Dern as a sympathizer who helps him. However it is Dayo Okeniyi as Green who you are continuously drawn to, his presence on screen seems to fade everyone else into the background. Similarly, Ben Robson makes the bounty hunter McCabe a ruthless yet professional badass.
THE VERDICT
A cursory glance at Shields Green's wiki page will clue you in that this film is not a faithful account of his life, instead it elevates the man from being a footnote in history to a folk hero. Even so, the period detail looks authentic and the action scenes are actually action packed.
8 out of 10 - RECOMMENDED
MikeOutWest
Kaleidoscope Entertainment presents Emperor out now on Digital and DVD from 5th April 2021